Monterey County has long been an international tourist destination, and will soon be able to add one more amenity to its list of attractions. The Alta Planning + Design team was retained by the Transportation Agency for Monterey County to provide master planning services for the proposed Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail. Once complete, the Scenic Trail will link Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties and will be an integral part of the California Coastal Trail. The California Coastal Trail is intended to run the length of the California Coast, approximately 1,300 miles. Portions of the Scenic Trail have already been completed and are well utilized, but the most challenging engineering and alignment tasks remain.

The Scenic Trail corridor traverses diverse land uses, from urban areas and tourist destinations, to more rural agricultural lands, state parks, and beaches. The proposed trail corridor includes many urban roadway crossings and three river crossings. The master planning process involves significant design and an engineering feasibility study, conceptual development of interpretive amenities, right-of-way negotiation, and environmental assessment. Due to the sensitive nature of the trail corridor habitat and the corridor’s agricultural and historical significance, the proposed Scenic Trail will be rich with interpretive opportunities and will be a remarkable way to introduce visitors and locals alike to this incredible piece of California coastline. The Scenic Trail planning process is ongoing.

For more information about this project, contact Alta Principal Michael Jones in our San Rafael office.

In the past few months, Alta staff and colleagues have made several notable appearances in local and national news:

• In June, Alta Principal Mia Birk shared her rail-with-trail expertise in Victoria, BC, at a workshop hosted by the Capital Bike and Walk Society. The workshop was held to discuss a proposed rail-with-trail alongside the E&N Railway. The workshop and proposed trail were featured in the June 8 edition of the Victoria News.
• The Christian Science Monitor recently published an article on shared-lane markings, featuring Alta's study in San Francisco, and forthcoming markings in Portland. The arcticle, titled " 'Sharrows' Aim to Help Cars and Bikes Share Roads," also featured an interview with Mia Birk. For the full article, go to www.csmonitor.com/2005/0831/p14s02-ussc.html.
• CNN.com recently published an article about Portland, Oregon's bicycle-friendly status and its affects on keeping obesity in check. We were pleased to see our City of Portland colleagues/friends Linda Ginenthal and Louise Tippens featured in the photo and article, titled "Experts: Bikes Help Oregon Check Obesity," which can be found at www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/08/24/obesity.oregon.ap/.

Ann Cheng, Senior Planner - Berkeley, California
Ann Cheng brings five years of planning experience on projects ranging from redevelopment planning, urban creek restoration initiatives, and GIS system development. Ann has broad experience managing a range of projects, such as co-authoring design guidelines and coordinating multiple stakeholders in redevelopment plan implementation. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring metro systems around the world, being outdoors, making art, and talking shop with her planner friends. Her career goal is to bring as many international innovations in bicycle and pedestrian planning back to the U.S., in order to make non-fossil fuel dependent travel a viable daily option for all people.

The new federal transportation bill approved July 29 by Congress will make bicycling safer, more convenient, and more fun for all Americans. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) authorizes as much as $4 billion in new federal spending on bike paths, trails, and related programs through September 2009. Every U.S. state and virtually every city should benefit. The gains for bicycling were largely engineered by the America Bikes Coalition, an unprecedented alliance of eight non-profit organizations, which received primary funding from the Bikes Belong Coalition.

SAFETEA-LU’s total dollar authorization (for highways and mass transit as well as bicycling and walking) is $286.5 billion, or roughly $1,000 for every American man, woman, and child. Here’s a short list of the ways this law will benefit bicycling:

• Two key programs, Transportation Enhancements and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality, could contribute close to $2 billion for new bike paths, lanes, and safe crossings.
• The law includes $612 million for a new federal Safe Routes to School program that will help communities create safe ways for kids to pedal and walk to school.
• An average of $70 million per year is authorized for the Recreational Trails Program, which pays for the construction and repair of trails. This $20-million-per-year increase will provide meaningful improvements for mountain biking.
• Another $100 million has been approved for a new program called Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Programs designed to develop model bicycle/pedestrian cities in Columbia, Missouri; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Marin County, California; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• SAFETEA-LU includes more than $500 million (and perhaps as much as $1 billion) in guaranteed funding for high-priority projects with bicycling components that were requested by individual members of Congress. (This figure is still being calculated.)

For more information about the details of SAFETEA-LU and suggestions on how you can stay involved, visit www.americabikes.org.

Alta's Portland office, in partnership with lead firm Cogan Owens Cogan, recently completed a project to analyze the effectiveness of actions that are intended to reduce the number of drive-alone trips. This project assissted Portland's regional government, Metro, in in its goal to reduce drive-alone trips in the region by increasing use of transit, bicycling, carpooling, walking, and telecommuting. The project included:

• Summarizing existing Metro non-drive-alone mode share targets and requirements, current efforts of local jurisdictions to meet these requirements, and ways in which these efforts were being measured and evaluated;
• Conducting a comprehensive literature review of the effectiveness of strategies employed by various entities that are required or recommended by Metro to meet non-drive-alone mode share targets; and
• Recommending future RTP requirements, best practices for implementation, procedures to measure effectiveness, and processes to monitor compliance.

The full report is available for download on Metro's website, at www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?articleid=12130. For more information about this project, contact Alta Principal Mia Birk in our Portland office.

• Pro-Bono Assistance: Alta staff are available to help community groups and agencies on a pro bono basis, whether it is answering questions or assisting with research. Every year we donate hundreds of hours to help our colleagues in a variety of areas. Call an Alta professional today to find out more about this, or come into one of our offices and use our library of resources.
   
• Conference Support Program: Alta offers help to deserving individuals who wish to attend conferences in fields related to bicycles, pedestrians, and trails. This may include plane tickets, other travel costs, and conference costs. Contact Alta Principals Michael Jones or Mia Birk to find out more about this program.